TRM Talks

2025 was the year of stablecoins — and there’s no better person to look back (and ahead) with than Dante Disparte of Circle.

In this Flash TRM Talks, Ari and Dante reflect on Circle’s big year, the passage of the GENIUS Act, shifting US market structure, and accelerating global regulatory alignment.

They also share predictions for 2026 — including why privacy and global coordination will define crypto’s next chapter — and have a great time doing it.

How do you build a forward-looking regulatory framework while keeping innovation moving at internet speed?In this episode, Ari is joined by Kenneth Gay, Chief FinTech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), for a wide-ranging conversation on technology, regulation, and the future of finance.

Together, they trace Kenneth’s 21-year journey across enforcement, markets, macro-financial analysis, and hands-on experimentation — right down to spinning up a Bitcoin node to understand blockchain data from the ground up.

Kenneth explains how early explorations such as Project Ubin laid the foundation for Project Guardian, a cross-border sandbox that brings together regulators and financial institutions to test real-world tokenization of funds, bonds, stablecoins, and bank liabilities.

He highlights the emerging frameworks MAS has developed to help the industry operationalize tokenization across asset classes, and why collaboration and shared standards are essential to scaling safely.

The conversation also dives into artificial intelligence, outlining MAS’s four-pillar approach — capabilities, adoption, governance, and workforce — and explains why curated pathways, including solution marketplaces and centers of excellence, will be critical to responsible AI deployment.Grounded, pragmatic, and optimistic, this episode shows how a regulator can be both rigorous and innovation-minded — without losing sight of risk.

Listen in to learn how the next phase of finance is being built in public, with standards, sandboxes, and shared incentives at the core.

What do Al Capone, the Bitfinex hack, and the largest child-exploitation takedown in history have in common? IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) played a defining role in all of them.

In the latest episode of TRM Talks, Ari sits down with Chief Guy Ficco — the head of IRS-CI — for a wide-ranging conversation on how one of the smallest federal law-enforcement agencies has become one of the most powerful forces in financial-crime enforcement. Chief Ficco reflects on his 30-year career, from his early days as a field agent in New York to leading global investigations that follow money across borders, blockchains, and criminal ecosystems.

The discussion covers IRS-CI’s involvement in major cases, including the Welcome to Video takedown and the largest crypto seizure in US history. Chief Ficco also details the agency’s growing leadership in cryptocurrency investigations, seizure and forfeiture strategy, and public-private partnerships like CI-FIRST and Beacon. He shares candid insights on the risks and opportunities of AI, the evolving threat landscape, and the principles that guide his approach to leadership and modernization.

A must-listen episode for anyone interested in the future of financial-crime enforcement — and how IRS-CI is staying ahead of increasingly sophisticated illicit actors.

As digital assets move into the regulatory spotlight, few have the global vantage point of Tom Duff Gordon, Vice President of International Policy at Coinbase. With experience ranging from banking at Credit Suisse to steering policy at one of the world’s largest crypto firms, Tom offers a rare behind-the-scenes view into how crypto policy is shaped around the world.

In this episode, Tom joins Ari, TRM's Global Head of Policy, to unpack the evolving global crypto policy landscape, from the rollout of MiCA in Europe to new frameworks taking shape across APAC, LATAM, and the Middle East. He reflects on how his early TradFi experiences during the global financial crisis informed his belief in blockchain's promise — and why he made the leap to Coinbase.

Tom and Ari also discuss:

• Why Stand With Crypto is redefining grassroots advocacy
• How stablecoin and tokenization policy is evolving globally
• Why Coinbase champions both centralized and decentralized finance
• The power of crypto storytelling in policymaker conversations

From running policy playbooks across continents to running literal miles with Ari at TRM Run Club, this wide-ranging conversation spotlights the people and principles behind crypto’s global expansion.

Detective David Coffey has spent more than 25 years with the Toronto Police Service, tackling everything from violent street crime to complex financial fraud. In this episode, he joins Ari, to unpack the evolving nature of fraud in Canada — and how crypto is changing the game.

Now assigned to the Financial Crimes Unit, Det. Coffey reflects on his journey from divisional beat cop to leading major fraud investigations. From account takeovers to human trafficking links, he shares firsthand how organized crime has adapted its playbook — and why cryptocurrency is increasingly the payment method of choice.

But more than tracing funds, Det. Coffey's mission is about public education. With scams like pig butchering and sextortion on the rise, he makes a compelling case that fraud prevention must start with awareness. Det. Coffey and Ari cover:

• How Canada is responding to cross-border crypto crime
• What the Toronto Fraud Intake Office is revealing about scam trends
• The critical role of exchanges in asset recovery
• Why better data and collaboration are essential to solving financial crimes

Det. Coffey's message is clear: Crypto can be traced, but we need stronger tools, smarter partnerships, and an informed public to truly turn the tide.

Stablecoins are transforming how money moves — and nowhere is that shift more dynamic than in Asia. In this episode of TRM Talks, Ari sits down with Yam Ki Chan, Vice President for Asia Pacific at Circle, to explore how stablecoins are powering the next chapter of cross-border payments, trade finance, and digital money innovation.From his early days tinkering with school computers in Chicago to his tenure at the US Department of the Treasury negotiating policy with China’s top leaders, Yam Ki brings a rare blend of policy depth and business execution to the stablecoin conversation.Together they dig into:

• Why stablecoins are an upgrade to traditional money rails
• How Asia’s fragmented regulatory landscape creates both challenge and opportunity
• Real-world use cases for USDC across remittances, commerce, and trade
• The leadership roles of Japan, Singapore, and Korea in shaping global standards
• Why the US “Genius Act” marks a global inflection point for digital assets

The discussion also touches on how AI is fueling new fraud tactics — and how blockchain intelligence platforms like TRM are helping regulators and businesses fight back. Don’t miss this deep dive into the APAC stablecoin playbook and the future of financial infrastructure.

Over the last decade we have seen a shift from experimentation to implementation in digital finance and few people have been closer to that evolution than Wee Kee Toh, Executive Director and Global Head of Business Architecture for Kinexys Digital Payments at JP Morgan.

Wee Kee joins Ari to explore the arc of institutional crypto adoption — from his early work at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the BIS Innovation Hub to building JP Morgan’s live blockchain-based payment infrastructure. He shares insights from developing digital payments platforms, and reflects on how early regulatory experimentation laid the groundwork for live digital finance at scale.

Topics covered include:

• Why interoperability and programmability are the future of digital payments
• The long-term vision behind JP Morgan's Kinexys
• How the global regulatory landscape is reacting to stablecoin legislation like the GENIUS Act
• What the future holds for stablecoins, tokenization and on-chain commerce.

With a unique perspective as both a former regulator and current builder, Wee Kee shares a candid, optimistic take on how the digital asset ecosystem is evolving — and why institutional momentum matters more than ever.

Stablecoins are having a moment. In this episode of TRM Talks, Ari sits down with Lesley Chavkin, Head of Global Policy at Paxos and former US Treasury official, to unpack the regulatory evolution shaping the future of digital finance.

Lesley shares her journey from building anti-money laundering frameworks in the Middle East, to building at Stellar, to now helping guide Paxos through a pivotal period for stablecoins. Her perspective bridges public service and private sector innovation — making her one of the most thoughtful voices in crypto policy today.

The conversation covers the impact of the GENIUS Act and why it marks a turning point for stablecoin issuers, how Paxos’ regulatory-first model is resonating with banks and traditional finance, and the differences between regimes like Singapore, the EU’s MiCA, and the US. They also dive into what financial institutions need to know about stablecoin infrastructure — from partnerships with PayPal to the buildout of the Global Dollar Network.

Lesley offers a candid view on what policymakers often miss about digital assets — and what’s still needed to build a safe, trusted, and interoperable future for stablecoins.

How did a Wall Street-bound grad become a pioneer in counterterrorism and threat intelligence? In this episode, Josh Lefkowitz, CEO of Flashpoint, joins Ari to unpack that journey — and share critical insights from the frontlines of global threat monitoring.

Josh shares how 9/11 transformed his career trajectory and catalyzed his entry into the national security world. Fast forward to today, Flashpoint supports over 800 global clients with intelligence spanning jihadist networks, cybercrime, and geopolitical threats.

From the rise of AI-enabled fraud to North Korea’s massive infiltration of the Fortune 500 via remote IT workers, Josh details the most urgent risks facing both public and private sectors. He explains how adversaries are blending AI, stolen data, and social engineering in increasingly sophisticated attacks—and why we’re only in the early innings.You’ll also hear about:

• The staggering rise of infostealer malware and its role in ransomware
• How Flashpoint blends scalable tech with human analysts to stay ahead
• Why collaboration is now essential: one team, one fight
• The game-changing Flashpoint–TRM integration that unites on- and off-chain intelligence

As adversaries evolve, so must our defenses. This is a masterclass in intelligence, innovation, and what it takes to build security in real time.

Former Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Director Steve Francis dedicated his life to public service from a young age, rising to the pinnacle of US federal law enforcement.On this episode of TRM Talks, Steve joins Ari to reflect on a career defined by protecting the financial system, empowering agents in the field, and building innovative enforcement programs that span borders and sectors.Steve understood early that almost every crime is a financial crime and every investigation is about following the money. During Steve's tenure at HSI, cryptocurrency became a bigger part of that equation. Recognizing its growing role in transnational crime, Steve prioritized crypto-focused training for agents, built a cadre of blockchain intelligence experts, and championed the use of advanced investigative tools to track and disrupt illicit activity on-chain. That commitment to leveraging technology gave HSI new capabilities to keep pace with rapidly evolving threats.From uncovering Saddam-era money laundering in Iraq to leading operations against counterfeit PPE during the pandemic, Steve’s leadership combined operational experience with strategic foresight. Now as Executive Chairman of IP House, he is applying that mission mindset to the private sector, building a 550-person global intelligence and enforcement network in just over a year.The conversation explores lessons in humble, high-impact leadership, the central role of crypto and cyber in modern investigations, how cross-agency collaboration has driven landmark cases, and the future of public-private partnerships. Whether you work in government, tech, or compliance, this is a masterclass in innovation, leadership, and mission-driven work.